Following a few requests from fellow captains recently – not so much of an unofficial “how to”, as it is just a documentation of “how I did it” (took me a solid week the first time)

This is in NO WAY a substitute for the expert guidance of Bob Carpenter & his boys.

You need to be at least very mechanically inclined to do this yourself, and that’s WITH guidance, as far as I know, most captains with the mail order kit got their mechanics to fit it, the only ‘regular’ guys I know of that did it themselves are @warp9.9 and myself. We’ve had our engines apart many times too so have refitted the bits a few times also

TuneBoy cable, enabled laptop, “key” from TuneBoy for your ECUUPDATE: I've created TuneECU versions of the 240hp Tuneboy maps - hopefully this will set us free from Tuneboy - see section 9 below for links

*There are other methods of removing pistons, i.e. going in from underneath where you don’t need the Triumph tool, but I chose on top as you have to take that part of engine apart anyway – unlike the bottom of the engine
**If you can only get a “normal” needle, you can use something as an extension – see section 7 photos, I used a needle for pumping up footballs​

(g) Remove air filter, intake ducting (filter box can stay) including air temp sensor, and throttle bodies including fuel rail and MAP sensor & tubes, as per manual section 11.188

(h) Remove all 3 coils and HT leads including coil support bracket, compressed air blast of spark plug towers and then remove spark plugs

(i) Optional to either disconnect and peel back main harness completely out of the way, or partially disconnect and wrap it up well to the right side chassis spine – tag any disconnected plugs with tape and what it’s for/where it connects back later​

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(j) Remove cam cover as per manual section 3.5

(k) Remove cam chain tensioner as per manual section 3.6

N.B. No need to use the Triumph cam jig tool to hold cams in timed place when doing this, as the cams are coming out too, just turn the crank over clockwise from front using 24mm socket on the big nut on end of crankshaft, until the cams are in a position where no cam lobe is pushing a valve bucket down, i.e. their most “relaxed” position (i.e. any position where a pair of cam lobes, no matter the cylinder are facing directly away from tappet faces), e.g.;​

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(l) Remove & inspect cam chain as per manual section 3.10 – if your chain is anywhere near the 147.63mm limit over 23 links then it might be a good idea to order a replacement now while head is going to Carpenter, especially as it will probably stretch a bit with the new engine (as a point of reference my chain was 142.62mm with 10K miles on the bike, when I did this install)

(m) Remove cam chain guide blades as per manual section 3.13

N.B. If your engine is pre-2010 you probably have the old design cam chain tensioning guide – the one that’s been superseded as the old one breaks. It would be a good idea to buy the newer model T1142048 from Triumph and send that one to Carpenter Racing, and shelve your engine’s original one.

N.B. Some other parts can be also upgraded while doing this work, depending on your engine – see list in section 3 below​

N.B. the camshafts can be shipped in the head for convenience, but you will still need to remove them now in order to get to the head bolts

(o) Remove cylinder head as per manual section 3.20. The manual says to remove oil tank in order to remove cylinder head – you don’t need to remove the oil tank, although it is easier to remove head with the tank out of the way - your choice

(p) Remove spark plugs, thermostat and coolant temperature sensor from the head before shipping

(q) Fit cam ladder and cam cover to head before shipping – optional to put cams in head too or wrap separately – leave the valve disassembly to the Carpenter boys - if shipping cams beside the head, not in it, best use something to help hold tappet buckets from falling out during shipping e.g.;

(b) Include copy of receipt of payment to Carpenter for the kit, specify which kit it is you want, list of parts in the crate, what year & model Rocket you have, return address, and email address to send the map file to

(c) If you are unfortunate enough to live in a country that charges import duties & taxes, be sure to file the temporary export paperwork and document the whole thing to within an inch of its life, this should save you having to pay duty & tax when it all comes back

Edit: corrected cam timing chain length over 23 links limit from 149.48mm to 147.63mm,,, not sure where i got the 149.48mm from!​

Now that you’ve the engine opened up you will know better what to order (e.g. clutch lifter piece, cam chain tensioning guide etc, see below) while waiting on your Carpenter Racing order to be processed – crush washers and o-rings may be reused if in good nick, but they’re listed here as recommended in any case to have on hand for the sake of a few bucks;

1no. ThreeBond TB1215J sealant (you can get away with other liquid gasket makers)

Medium strength Loctite threadlock

1no. Cam cover gasket T1260079

2no. Oil filter (as you will be changing the oil after 70* miles of engine break-in)

* Note: High compression pistons do not get run in the same way as you’d expect i.e. no gentle 600 miles. Under Carpenter’s advice I ran mine in in 70 miles, as the piston rings seat very fast. Ask Bob about run in specifications.​

12L Premium fully synthetic engine oil recommended by Carpenter Racing e.g. Amsoil, Motul – weighted for your climate (12L as you will be changing the oil after 70 miles of engine break-in)

1no. 1.4kW starter motor & additional battery/engine cables upgrade (recommended as some captains including myself experience starting issues due to the high compression pistons and aggressive cams being too much for the stock starting system – some go with dual batteries, stock and lithium ion, as an alternative to the 1.4kW starter. I highly recommend the starter upgrade – it starts a Carpenterized engine with the additional resistance of turning a supercharger like a champ, and no need for a 2nd battery)

If engine is older than engine #249178 (04-09 models iirc), i.e. with the small head ball bearing lifter piece T1170203;

1no. New clutch lifter piece T1172023

1no. New lifter shaft T1170041

1no. camchain tensioning guide T1142048

And if engine is 04-05 iirc, i.e. with the needle roller thrust bearing T1170029;

1no. Pressure plate ball bearing T1170067

1no. Pressure plate T1170061

1no. Wavy washer T3550380

N.B. See section 0. Prerequisites to ensure you have everything, e.g. special tools

(d) If your lifter shaft in the clutch cover is worn (on the jaws, for example) replace it too

(e) Fit the 5no. Carpenter clutch springs as per manual 4.11 (basically torque them in to 10Nm – manual doesn’t say, but it’s good practice to tighten them down bit by bit evenly in a diagonal/opposites manner)

(f) Do not put clutch cover back on yet (that goes on later, after head and cam chain guides are fitted​

5. Replacing pistons (not applicable to 210hp kit – but you should re-seal liners either way)

(a) Remove cylinder sleeves / liners following manual section 5.20

Pro tip; use A4 or A3 plastic sheets (used for binding documents) to act as temporary liners to guide the piston up & down and fall about on their wristpins less when you’re turning crank over to lower the next piston who’s liner you’re going to pull out, and protect the piston skirts etc from damage when they meet the crankcase walls (which they will) – you can also wrap some tape around the piston skirt to protect its edges from conrod and crankcase walls

N.B Number the liners as they come out, with direction markings for front/rear

(b) Remove the OEM pistons as per manual section 5.17

(c) Check new piston ring end gaps as per manual section 5.18, except the top ring, that one will be practically 0.

Do not worry about this as the top ring is designed to bed in very fast, and the gap will appear as the engine is run in. DON’T file the rings or anything.

(d) I didn’t do this, but it was stated after my install that I should have dulled the face of the pistons so they weren’t so shiny

(e) Fit the three new Carillo / CP Pistons from Carpenters as per the manual section 5.18 – note the difference in valve recesses in the top of the pistons – the larger ones go on the intake side – see the valve faces on the underside of your cylinder head for reference

Pro tip; Rotate crank so piston you want to fit is at its TDC for fitting, and the other 2 are down out of the way – recommend fitting middle (#2) piston first, so you can get at both sides, 1 & 3 are more difficult as the crankcase is in your way more

Pro tip; stuff clean rags down around conrods before you go fitting wrist pin clips – you don’t want to lose one into the crankcase when you drop one

Pro tip; when fitting pistons #1 and #3 (after #2 is done), put the front-most (for piston #1) and the rear-most (for piston #3) wrist pin clip in first – as these sides have crankcase in the way preventing access for them to be the last clips to go in

(f) Set piston rings as per section 5.19 of the manual

(g) Refit liners as per manual section 5.21 – use U-clamps to hold liners right down in place (when you turn crank to bring the next piston up to TDC, ready to get its liner fitted, the piston in the liner you just fitted now before will try to push its liner up and bust your fresh liquid gasket)

Pro tip; Recommend fitting middle (#2) liner first, so you can get at both sides, 1 & 3 are more difficult as the crankcase is in your way more

Pro tip; If you want, practice putting a liner or 2 on WITHOUT the sealant, so you can get the hang of it without the time constraint of sealant going “off” – the sealant/liquid gasket maker will go off a lot quicker in dry hot weather so beware

N.B. Rub a film of clean engine oil into the inside of the liners so the pistons aren’t going in dry

N.B. Careful putting on the sealant bead around the liner, you only need a very thin bead as the liner into crankcase is a transition fit, if you try to be “sure” of a good seal and use a thick bead, the sealant will squeeze out and block your coolant path impeding efficiency of the cooling system

N.B. the manual illustration is a guy holding the conrod and piston in one hand, liner in the other – in real life it’s not that easy, as the piston and rod are in the engine and your manoeuvring room isn’t great – this is a fiddly job – use a kind of circular rocking motion (don’t twist, it’ll move the rings) and watch the rings don’t come out of grooves, they’ll get bent or snapped – ideally have an assistant hold the piston from rocking on the wrist pin while you work the liner on

N.B. watch out for touching the bead of sealant with anything during all the handling – it’s messy and you don’t want to ruin the bead

N.B. Watch out for upsetting the position of the piston ring end gaps during liner fitment – they are easy move – best double check positions of rings on each piston immediately prior to fitting its own liner

N.B. Careful the U-clamps are like in the pic below, i.e. not over the pistons, as the high comp pistons will rise proud of the top of the liner

(h) Verify #1 TDC by setting the crank to the marks on the front sprocket, and have the dial indicator magnetised to a U-clamp, set the pin on the piston as it gets close to TDC, so you can see if the TDC mark on crank sprocket hits the mark on crankcase at the same time the dial needle peaks its deflection

N.B. photo above shows piston #3 as I also marked TDC for #2 & 3 on the front crank sprocket so i could also check valve lift on cylinders 2 & 3 to verify the cam lobe pairs were truly 120° apart (I'm OCD)​

Cams have slotted adjustable sprockets, so are not “drop in” like the OEM or some aftermarket cams, you have to set them/dial/degree them in, timing wise. This procedure sets valve timing/overlap etc by setting the cams in the right position relative to the crank position.

This section replaced step 14 of the cylinder head installation guide in the manual (on page 3.22).

NOTE: YOUR CHOSEN PACKAGE MAY HAVE DIFFERENT VALVE TIMING & CLEARANCE SPECS – ALWAYS USE BOB’S SPECS – SPECS HERE ARE FOR MY SETUP, USED AS THE EXAMPLE

(a) With your cam chain guides in place and cylinder head on and torqued down, do a check that all shims are sitting nicely in their respective valve retainers and buckets are in ok – we’re going to assume valves are straight and the guides ok etc etc as Bob’s guys assembled the valve train – just check no buckets or shims became dislodged in transit or head installation

(b) Put a dab of assembly lube in each of the cam journals in the head & cam ladder, and also on the cam journals on the cams themselves, and the cam lobes

(c) Sit both your cams into the head ensuring intake cam is on the side nearest the throttles – leave the cam sprocket on the cams but leave the sprocket bolts out at this point

(d) Cams should be sitting in the head in the position below (lobes pointing outwards on cylinder 1);

Intake camExhaust cam

(e) Fit the cam ladder and torque it down using the correct method and sequence as per manual section 3.17

(f) We’re not going to check valve clearances at this point, as the risk of one being out is very low – Bob’s guys assembled the valve train including shim selection so you know they’re good

(g) Grab a ratchet and 24mm socket and using the 24mm nut on the front end of the crankshaft, turn the crank over manually in the clockwise direction (when facing front of engine) until you get the Cylinder #1 TDC marks on the crank front sprocket lined up bang on with the “arrows” on the crankcase

(h) Turn your cam sprockets so that they look like this;

(i) Fit the cam chain so it’s meshed with the drive sprocket on the crank and the 2 cam sprockets – and the slack has "just" been taken up (don't push it, just take up the slack) by the chain tensioner – careful not to move the cam sprockets from the position set in step (h) above when doing this – the chain should be taught under the rubbing pad between the cam sprockets and also on the fixed guide

(j) Ensure your tensioner lock nut and the o-ring are out away from the tensioner body

N.B. In the pic below, the cam ladder should be in place, holding the cams down

(k) Turn the tensioner in until the slack has ‘just’ been taken up by the tensioning guide (look in from above to ensure the tensioner bolt tip is seated correctly into the shoe, not caught on the edge for example)

(l) Use the ratchet to turn the crank over clockwise (when facing front of engine) - or better yet get an assistant to turn it over continuously and smoothly using a T-bar - so that the chain is turning the cam sprockets as they idle on the end of the cams (but cams don’t move as the sprocket bolts haven’t been put in yet)

(m) While the crank is being turned over and the cam sprockets are idling, turn the tensioner in with your fingertips until fingertip tight – you will feel a difference between when you can thread the tensioner in freely (there is slack in the camchain) and when you’re at the right point (camchain slack is gone so threading tensioner in gets tight) – your tensioner is now set

(n) Move the tensioner o-ring back into place and thread in & tighten up the lock nut with a good squeeze using spanner (not feasible to use a socket and torque wrench here as you need to hold the tensioner steady by the outer nut with another spanner)

(o) Turn crank over to reach TDC on cylinder #1 (line up marks on crank sprocket and crankcase), and check your cam sprockets are back in the same place as in (h) above

(p) Cut down one of your pair of 20mm spanners so you have about 6” (150mm) of an ‘open’ spanner – keep the other one uncut, both may be used

(q) Mount the dial indicator so it is real good & solid – it can’t move during use or your readings will be arseways – use the magnetic base to stick it to one chassis spine and then cable tie the other end down to make it solid

(r) Position the dial indicator needle (and extension, if needed) up on the intake valve (either one) of cylinder #1, so that it is in line with the line of travel of the valve (i.e. as perpendicular to the bucket face as possible) – this is critical to measuring correct valve lift – also ensure the needle does not contact the cam at all, as the cam moves so will disturb the needle – also watch for the needle getting caught on the edge of the bore in the cylinder head – you need to be precise here as there isn’t much room

(s) The needle should be compressed so the large scale dial (the one that is graduated in mm and not tenths of mm) is a 4-5mm into its range – you will be measuring 2.974mm on the intake valve lift so don’t want the dial indicator to run out of range before you get to 2.974mm

(t) Use 20mm spanner to approximately 1/3 turn the intake cam anticlockwise (when facing front of engine) so the cylinder #1 cam lobes are facing away from the buckets – this will involve the cam lobes on cylinder #3 opening the #3 pair of valves (don’t worry about the valves on #3 clashing with the piston, see pics below for where pistons 2 & 3 are when 1 is at TDC)

(u) When the cam lobes on #1 are pointing away from the tappet bucket faces;

• check your dial indicator needle is still good
• you still have at least 4mm left on the dial gauge’s small dial for the needle to travel down through
• note the position of the small dial’s needle
• you have “zeroed” the fine graduations range on the gauge (the outer ring), also move the little plastic marker to 0.794mm​

(v) Get an assistant ideally, to bolt down the cam sprockets when you turn the cams

(w) Turn the intake cam back to where it was, to the position in the two photos above and two below (i.e. facing out and down) – 1/3 turn clockwise when facing front of engine – the dial indicator will quickly register some lift as teh lobe starts touching the bucket, maybe 0.5mm (see video far below)

(x) Watching the dial indicator, use the 20mm spanner to continue turning the intake cam clockwise to the point where the dial indicator reads 0.110” / 2.794mm of total travel (the cam lobes push the buckets down by 2.794mm from where you zeroed the dial)

(y) Hold the intake cam there exactly at that 2.794mm lift point, and thread in 1 cam sprocket bolt and torque it to 150 inch pounds / 17Nm

(z) Remove the 20mm spanner and turn crank over until the other bolt hole of the intake cam sprocket has come around to clear the head deck and the 2nd bolt can be put in and torqued down

(aa) When the intake cam sprocket is bolted down fully to the cam, you need to turn the engine over by hand several times, checking the intake valve timing (lift at TDC) each iteration

(bb) Make a table of the results, with a column for the error – you should have almost exactly the same reading each iteration

(cc) When you’re confident you’ve the intake cam dialled in perfectly and are getting consistent readings, you can take out one sprocket bolt at a time and put some threadlock on them before torquing them back down

(dd) Put cylinder #1 back to TDC as per the marks on the front of the crank sprocket etc, and repeat the dialling in process for the exhaust cam, using the target lift specification of 0.095” / 2.413mm

N.B. In the video above at 03:40 I said 2.9mm by mistake, as you can see it was at 2.80mm which was the target

(ee) You can check for timing accuracy in 2 ways; (i) turn the engine over until TDC mark is reached on the crank sprocket, then check what the lift is in thou/mm on the dial indicator, OR (ii) turn the engine over until the dial indicator is at the lift spec (e.g. 95 thou on exhaust) and then see where the TDC mark is on the crank sprocket in relation to the marking on crankcase – the first way is good to see how far out your lift is from target spec in thou/mm, the second way doesn’t but if your timing is bang on it will be so when you use either method

(ff) Your cams are now dialled in and tensioner set – if you like to double check everything, you can at this point hold the tensioner still by the outer nut, back off the inner/lock nut and o-ring, and ensure you’re happy with the “fingertip tight” setting of the manual tensioner before locknutting it down again

(gg) Check your valve clearances as per section 3.19 of the manual

N.B. Your cam chain will probably stretch with the new, more aggressive cams and stronger valve springs over the first couple thousand miles of running this modified engine – if your hearing isn’t great (you can’t hear timing chain rattles) you should repeat step (ff) above every couple thousand miles until the slack that comes into it has got less and less each time and is now finished stretching

E.g. I fitted my stuff at 10435 miles – at 12845 miles I heard a small rattle so adjusted tensioner (tensioner moved in 8/6ths of a turn) – tensioned it again at 14531 miles when servicing (turned in 6/6ths turn) – tensioned it again at 18642 miles when servicing (took 5/6ths of a turn) – and so on until it doesn’t need adjusting anymore – although it should be checked regardless​

(d) Open Bob’s Tuneboy map for your package, in TuneEdit – if not already done, set idle speed to 950rpm at the highest temperature and stagger it up then for colder temps (better oil pressure at 950rpm than the stock 850rpm, which is needed for your more aggressive cams)

(e) Load the map

(f) Back in TuneBoy test tacho/speedo, secondaries, idle stepper, fuel pump and importantly, the radiator fan (verifies all is connected right again)

(g) Set TPS & idle stepper (reset ISCV)

(h) Connect PCV to Power Commander software, load the 9000rpm map (don’t worry about rev limit, the Tuneboy map governs that, if your package is 8000rpm then only up to 8000rpm will be used in the PCV)

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10. First Startup

Make sure you have a camera rolling, if it all fails at least we can have a laugh at your expense

(a) If you have a heart condition, now is the time to take extra medication

(c) With your left hand, squeeze the clutch lever into the handlebar grip as you feel your heart pounding

(d) Nervously reach over with your right hand and gently lay it on the throttle tube handlebar grip

(e) Slowly move your right thumb in over the starter button

(f) Pause for a moment while you inwardly panic that something was missed or not done right

(g) When you summon the courage, move your feet so you’re as far away from the engine as possible, arms outstretched and turn your face away and squeeze your eyes closed in cowardice as you brace yourself, and thumb the starter button

(h) When it starts up and runs with no trouble at all, enjoy the few seconds where you forget to breathe, as your eyes dart around the bike and you slowly let go of the handlebar grips, looking for smoke, fire or sparks or broken bits falling out onto the ground… then remember to breathe again

(i) After about a minute of feeling immense relief and joy, switch off the bike and go top up your oil as per manual section 9.7 and coolant as per manual section 12.5

(j) Run bike again and balance the throttles – this job will be easier now you’ve freed up the intake – if a guide is needed, search the forum for the thread on throttle balancing - but either be quick with this step, or leave it until later - you need to run in the engine and time is of the essence

Note: Regarding the photo above - I did the engine work and kept the stock exhaust initially, to see what the achievable power was with stock looking bike. Later added a full system.

(k) Beware of the reduced torque at idle or so, and take the bike for a ≈70 mile spin, and don’t be afraid of the revs – obviously don’t redline it straight away, but gradually increase how much revs you use, and after 5 mins of running you want to be using 6-7k rpm kind of thing – the top rings bed in FAST and you need to be on it – best give Bob a call to have the best advice fresh in your mind on how to run it in correctly

(l) When back from the run-in spin, change the oil and filter

(l) Head to the local dyno man to get your fuelling tweaked to perfection via the PCV

(n) On the way home from dyno, go nuts and feel the difference in acceleration from 80 – 120mph and beyond ​

Bloody h£ll...that was one marathon of a posting - congratulations! That is an epic read that'll help me sleep for weeks! Tis always a shame when most of the information flies right over the top and sails into the sunset!!

Not bad what you snowed in up there already only thing I did different is not pull the liners to change pistons. I pull the sump pan and main bearing ladder along with the windage tray. Loosen rod bolt and up thru the top she goes. It allows you to use a piston ring compressor to install the new pistons. You will need new rod bolts. Good job bud ya even woke @ruzzle up and got him to post. Glad to see he is still kicking you should probably list the new torque specs on the cam gear bolts. But darn nice write up.